Distractions
by A Tengu Reporter
Summary: Distractions were always something she welcomed on busy days, but whenever it came in the form of a certain flirtatious knight, she'd rather be working all day. FemTacticianxSain. Somewhat.


**Distractions**

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><p>And there he went again.<p>

"Oh, fair lady, will you not grace me with your presence this day?"

She suppressed a groan before hesitantly turning to the sandy-haired man behind her. With eyes slightly narrowed, she told him in a voice that sounded like ice, "My apologies, Sain. But as you can see, I have much to do today. I've no time to waste."

She then gave the knight a nod before walking off in ill-concealed haste, giving him no chance to reply.

_Really_, she came to think as she walked through the rows of tents in the army's camp. That man was so much of a handful! Each and every day, he always seemed to have the time to pester her with his pointless compliments (and for his information, she was never radiant). And to think, that there were many women in the army! Why couldn't he just stay with one, like Rebecca, or Fiora, or Serra? They seemed to not mind his presence—well, maybe not Rebecca, since she shot well-aimed glares toward the knight each time she saw him…

Her tent then came into view; she realized that hadn't put much thought in the direction she headed to. She tugged at her brown locks in annoyance. Her body had acted in its own accord, again, without the consultation of her mind. Strange that it always happened each time she encountered the knight.

…No. Wait.

She shook her head. It was nothing but a coincidence. Coincidence.

Just like that time when she was so preoccupied with helping Lowen in cooking dinner. Sain just had to come at the wrong time, packed with his merciless flirting. He had also said that he was ordered to watch her and Lowen's progress.

He had been more of a nuisance than a watcher, the way he kept complimenting her about the way she prepared the ingredients, of how she seemed expertly when cooking the meat—she had snapped at that one with a, "Silence, Sain! And no, I am no expert! " as she felt she was hearing too much to be able to hear herself think. And because of that continuous distraction, she ended up burning the meat.

Oh, how loud she had shrieked in anger that time!

And there was also that time when she was practicing magic—she wanted so badly to learn to defend herself—with Erk. The green-armored knight sparring nearby with Kent had distracted her so much with his cheers as he won a spar, and his did-you-see-that grin always directed at her. Because of him, she had ended up with a half-summoned fire ball… which had exploded near her because of her unfinished chant. Yes, she remembered having been hurled a few feet away where she stood, landing on her backside. Painfully, she might add as she flinched at the memory.

The temptation to use her little knowledge of magic against Sain had been so strong that time, that she had to make herself leave the area to practice somewhere else. And, that was very difficult to achieve, at her current state, thank you very much.

But there were more encounters the young tactician could remember—more annoying ones than those. But… still, it unnerved her that one man could distract her so much. And so strange, she admitted grudgingly, that he was the only man who had such a strange effect on her.

…It could not be that feeling, because surely, she never felt anything near that, no such closeness. No, no, no. No.

"Milady! Are you there?"

Him again, she realized as she recognized the honeyed voice directed at her, her trail of thoughts broken to tiny pieces. And instinctively, she quickened her pace to her tent. He wasn't in sight yet, she was sure from the way his voice seemed to echo from the trees dotting the camp nearby. Perhaps if she reached her tent fast enough, he wouldn't find her, would deduce that she wasn't around, and then he would leave.

"_But for sure that man would think that you were just in the tent, perhaps doing something, and would look there_," a logical part of her mind told her as she nearly broke into a sprint. "_He is a merciless flirt, but he is most definitely not some fool."_

She inwardly scowled, and stubbornly told her mind that she'd proceed with her… plan… and simply "improve" it once she got to that part. Worry later, she'd added. Twenty more steps, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, six—

"Ah, so there you are!"

She froze.

The sound of his footsteps crunching in the rocky earth became louder and louder until she could feel his presence right behind her. Where had she gone wrong?

Was it the fact that she was far too slow to reach her tent? Was it because she misjudged the knight's location? Or, or perhaps it was because she should have told Sain that she did not want to be disturbed the whole day? Or… or…

She never managed to come up with an answer, because then she felt a feather-light tap on her shoulder, accompanied by his, "Milady."

Oh, blast it all.

"Sain," she started in a clipped tone, and as she turned to face him, she continued, "this had better be good."

She crossed her arms and eyed the man. She could not help but notice the way Sain's chocolate brown eyes shone in its usual cheerfulness, and almost, she could see her own dull green ones reflected in it. My, who knew he had such charming eyes…?

Wait, what?

"Well?" she pressed. It was her lame attempt to blot out the forming thoughts in her head—and to break the silence that had ensued since it had been uncomfortably long since any of them had spoken.

"Oh! Of course," Sain said, and once again he was grinning awkwardly. "I can't believe that lost focus for a moment there. Perhaps it was because your beauty took my breath away?"

Not this again.

She raised an eyebrow, and all it had done was to make Sain's grin impossibly wider. And suddenly her heart gave a single loud thump. For a moment, she had mused despite her outward irritation, he looked quite… cute, looking like that, like a little boy.

Stop, stop! Where in the heavens were these thoughts coming from?

"Oh, forget it. I am simply wasting time if I still stand here listening to another one of your jests." She decided and quickly motioned to leave as soon as she felt her cheeks begin to burn at the realization of where her mind was wandering. The sooner she left, the faster she could compose herself and remind her of what she usually thought of Sain!

"Wait!"

She felt his gloved hand hold her own calloused one, and her heart gave another loud thump.

"What? What else do you want?" She nearly choked the words out. But she had only done so because she was fighting to keep her unnatural reactions in check. Not to mention that her cheeks were getting hotter and hotter. She rarely blushed, by the heavens!

But Sain merely held her hand in place, blush surprisingly ignored, his other reaching for something… strapped in his waist? She couldn't help but be curious—and it was a good distraction from her internal struggle anyway—of the object in question.

He later managed to untie the strings of a small red pouch near the area where his sword sheath was strapped, with the pouch's contents making some sort of clanging sounds. The tactician blinked. That pouch was oddly familiar…

No… it _was _familiar, because it was hers to begin with.

The said object was placed in her opened hand, and the pouch felt just right in it. But there was still one thing she was wondering about: How did he come to have it?

"You had left in such haste earlier…" Sain explained as soon as he noticed her puzzled expression, finally letting go of her hand, "that you did not let me tell you of accidentally leaving that behind."

"…Oh." She could only say.

"But now that it is with you, I guess, I shall take my leave now. Perhaps you might have spare time to spend with later after you are done with your work!" He grinned again. Somehow that grin felt like it was mocking the tactician. She never forgot anything, period.

He gave a small bow, and was gone.

All she could do now was to stare at his retreating figure. It had taken quite a while before she snapped back to reality, shaking her head at the events that unfolded in front of her. Then, after having gathered her scattered thoughts, she smiled as she turned towards her tent, finally left alone in peace.

Distractions were always welcome to her busy life, she later admitted to herself as she plotted the best routes to take on her map in her tent. Just so as long as it didn't come in the form of that sandy-haired, green armor-wearing knight, distractions should be just fine.

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><p><strong>AN: **Well, it's finally done! It's, admittedly, something I came up with when I was bored, ha-ha. As you can see, the tactician's name wasn't mentioned at all. Yeah, that was done intentionally, since I really didn't think that her name has any importance whatsoever, aside from being something to know her by. But I enjoyed writing this anyway!


End file.
